If there's one thing that DC has loved to do over the years, it's to explore strange story avenues and then abandon them. In some ways, that's become their history ever since CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS--it feels that you can't go but a few years anymore until everything you've read is thrown out and they … Continue reading 5BC: Would You Believe Five More Forgotten DC Retcons
In any long-running series, there's going to be a magnetic pull among a certain type of writer to want to change things, to make adjustments to details, to eliminate contradictions in the stories that have been told and to introduce new information about foundational events. These ideas can sometimes be additive and sometime be destructive, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Forgotten DC Retcons
I bought this issue of SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS at my local 7-11, and it was another comic book which my household ended up with multiple copies of--though in this case, for a different reason. I would have a birthday in about a month's time, and as a gift my friend and classmate Don Sims … Continue reading BHOC: SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #13
Another similar thing that I did during my first trip to my very first comic book shop, Heroes World in Levittown, was to buy the oldest issue of THE FLASH that I could. As with FANTASTIC FOUR, there were some older releases on the wall--I seem to recall that SHOWCASE #13 with its pirate torpedo … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH #158
On Saturday mornings, SUPER FRIENDS had started producing new episodes for the first time in several years. The original 1973 run had produced 16 hour-long episodes, and were an outgrowth of a pilot program developed, in all places, in episodes of the BRADY KIDS animated series. After new more stringent legislation had been passed ostensibly … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER FRIENDS #9
This was another Treasury Edition that I loved. I can recall intending to duplicate Dick Giordano’s cover as an art entry in a Block party art contest that summer–it would also be used as the basis for a key frame in the opening credits to CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER-FRIENDS. More interesting to me, the back … Continue reading BHOC: LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION #C-46
A nice surprise, this issue of DC SUPER-STARS devoted itself to reprints of the Flash. These apparently had been prepared for FLASH #235, which was intended as a Giant issue (and mentioned as such in the letters page of the preceding issue) but canceled at the last moment. There was also an interesting story here … Continue reading BHOC: DC SUPER-STARS #5
New DC titles quite often had spotty or no distribution in my area, at least as far as my regular 7-11 was concerned, so there were several books over teh years that I became aware of in ads but never saw until much later. SUPER-TEAM FAMILY was one of those. The first issue’s cover had … Continue reading BHOC: SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #4
I had seen it coming in ads previously, and so I was excited to get my hands on the FAMOUS 1ST EDITIONS Treasury Edition reprint of FLASH COMICS #1, the first appearance of my favorite super hero. This would be the last in this series, unfortunately (it would come back for a final gasp around … Continue reading BHOC: FLASH COMICS #1 FAMOUS 1st EDITION
This issue of BATMAN marked the end of an era, and the beginning of another, shorter one. It was the first DC GIANT issue that I purchased, the smaller replacement for the 100-PAGE SPECTACULARS that I loved. Time and inflation had made that format untenable for DC, so they retrenched and reduced, coming up with … Continue reading BHOC: BATMAN #262
